The 12 months spanning May 2008 - May 2009 were undeniably the most pleasurably memorable stretch of 12 months in my entire life up to now. And although I will undoubtedly see the Cure many more times, the past year has been such an amazing collection of incredible experiences that it will be hard to top. It was, as the title of the post implies, an Anuus Mirabilis, a year of wonders, a year of miracles, a year where anything was possible.
I was just thinking about how this weekend will be a year since I saw the Cure on the Summer Solstice at Madison Square Garden, and how even at that moment I had NO idea what was to come in the months ahead. I realized that I haven't really written about it all, although there are bits and pieces here and there and so the idea for this blog post was born. After that show, I thought that was the end of my seeing the Cure for the year! But let's back up just a little and start over, and I apologize in advance that this will be a little long!
I've been a Cure fan since about 1984. It took me nearly 5 years to get to see them for the first time at Dodger Stadium on the Prayer Tour in 1989. For the 18 years between 1989 and 2007, I saw them a total of 9 times and considered that I was a lucky person to see them twice in both 2004 and 2007! Prior to 2008, I knew only a couple of the more "hardcore" fans very well and had traveled with them in 2003 and 2004 but had not really met that many other "diehards".
Then along came 2008.
I will start by saying that I've been a fan of the Chain of Flowers website since the late 90's, discovering it some time in 97 or 98, and checked it on an irregular basis. In the fall of 2001, after the first birthday of our daughter and after watching a terrible year's worth of bad news (I used to be a news junkie and actually had television in my house! Strange to think of, I know!) I basically thought to myself that the only news I cared to keep up with was news about the Cure.
So I switched my homepage on my browser from CNN to CoF, and there it stayed. A daily ritual of checking in with my favorite band and their comings and goings made for a peaceful and happy start to my day, as it still does. I was finally brave enough to send in a "Curespotting" in 2003 and started volunteering server space mirrors for the various audio and video files, but any involvement with the site was minimal. I watched though, always ready to hear about news of the Cure. I was REALLY happy when Craig decided to switch the format of the news to Blogger, but I don't think anyone really knew what that would mean for those of us that were fans of the site.
It began so slowly and grew so organically that would almost be hard to pinpoint when the comments on the blog began to take on a much greater meaning. The European shows were very time-offset compared to the US, so the catalyst was really when the Cure entered the US in May for the start of the US part of the tour. Each show setlist thread started to grow with commentary, and by the time that the 4-Tour reached Chicago, people from all around the world had started to tune in to the blog for the chance to chat with each other during the "live show" and comment on the set list as it arrived, and as the 4-Tour progressed, individual personalities began to emerge from the woodwork and interact with each other. Many of the people that would become important to my life later on in the year were those that I first met in the comments on the Chain of Flowers blog during the "show chats".
For our part, we started out with our original planned 2 dates to see them at Red Rocks and in Salt Lake City. We met the Cure just before their Salt Lake City show and I got my permanent autograph. We went to see them for the third time in 2008 in Sunrise, FL, and for the first time met some of the people that we had interacted with on the CoF blog.
Following the FL show, interacting with other people on CoF convinced and conspired to bring me to Madison Square Garden, where I recorded much of the soundcheck from an undisclosed location, then met a metric ton of Cure and CoF peeps and then got to the third row for an incredible show... and then thought that my Cure days for 2008 were done! The 4 Tour was officially over, and many of us that had met and interacted at shows and during the show chats were feeling a little, well, lost. So, the birth of the Meebo chat room was a direct result of the ending of the 4 Tour and the live show chats.
The rest of the summer and fall passed, mostly uneventfully, with the release of the rest of the singles and then the album release. I had passed the time by writing several Cure-related articles, and by designing another new teeshirt.
Then, on one otherwise uneventful evening in in November, it was less than two days before my 40th birthday when I got the news, the Cure were going to be taping shows in LA in December! I got the show tickets for the Carson Daly taping on Friday the 12th, and then when it was confirmed, we bought plane tix. However, we wouldn't be able to take enough time away to do the earlier show (Leno on Thursday the 11th) or the later taping (Jimmy Kimmel, on Monday the 15th) so I took a little bit of heat from my significant other over the idea that we were heading down to California for just one three-song concert. However, I asserted that since I was using the occasion as my 40th birthday present, it was my choice to go. Of course, this later turned out to be the best decision, like, ever, given that we just HAPPENED to be in LA for the now-legendary Secret Show at the Troubadour. And of course I got to give the Cure a batch of my Nightmare shirts and got a signed one back, (thank you so much forever, Keith!) but you can read about ALL of these adventures here, here and finally the actual 12:13 Dream show HERE.
The dust had barely begun to settle from the LA shows when the NME Awards were announced in London, and at first, I didn't even consider going. The economy was tanking, the holidays were just past, and everything was up in the air. The Coachella date wouldn't be announced until the end of January, and so it looked like the NME shows were the only game in town. Then more and more people were going, and the cost to go got smaller and smaller. Shared accommodation, shared transportation, meals at home, a week's pass for the Tube, reduced airfare due to the tanking economy and inexpensive show tickets sealed the deal, and before I knew it, I was spending a week in London. I got to see Tim Burton give Robert and the Cure the Godlike Geniuses award, and then stood at the front of the O2 Arena with 20,000 other people and a whole crowd of Cure peeps from all over the globe. Getting to see Stonehenge, Glastonbury, Bath, Avebury, Hyde Park, the Royal Albert Hall, Big Ben and scores of other sights with some of my favorite people on the planet just put the icing on the cake. These two shows marked the first time that I had ever traveled overseas for the Cure, and it was only due to the intense level of cooperation and coordination between a worldwide network of other fans that it even happened.
Speaking of Coachella, the Pearl show in Las Vegas just prior to the Coachella show had been announced while we were all in London for the O2 show, and you should have seen the panic when the US peeps realized that the announced ticket sale time was in the middle of the night in the UK! But of course we all took care of one another as we always do and eventually everyone had a ticket to what was hotly anticipated as the nearest thing to the Troubadour show that those who had missed it could imagine.
Somewhere in between the Troubadour show and deciding to actually go to London, I came up with the idea for the BOOK. Although the original plan was to give it to them at the NME awards, I think that the decision to wait and give it to them in April was the right one, as it really did allow a much greater level of participation and the end result was much more meaningful than it would have been, and I met so many amazing and wonderful fans through the project that it really took on a life of it's own.
So plans were made again and the fans converged on Las Vegas on one very warm weekend in April, and this time the reunion of the peeps was even more massive and heartwarming than the one before in London. Many CoF fans that had kept in touch via the Meebo chat were able to come together and for many, meet for the first time. We even managed to coordinate a group photo next to the Las Vegas sign! Although it was a disappointing ending that we now know was a bizarre fluke, the Pearl show rocked! And most of you know that story, as well as the incredible story of Coachella and some may have even read about the Belgian radio interview on Robert's 50th Birthday. The Other Voices book was successfully given to the Cure, and the hardcopy versions were created. Finally, on May 8th, 2009, the 30th anniversary of the release date of Three Imaginary Boys arrived.
And now sitting here in June of 2009, and looking back at those last 12 months, my heart is blown wide open with the amazingness of it all and how much everything has changed. I met the people that I've admired and loved for over a quarter of a century, in person, and have a permanent reminder of that day.
In the past 12 months I met more "diehard" Cure fans than I ever expected to meet. I've made some amazing friendships that I hope will be lifelong. Some of those are only now just beginning and others are deepening and becoming even more important, and there are even more people to meet and get to know better in the future.
I saw 10 shows in 12 months, and many of those have been with some of the most amazing people that I am now honored to call my friends. I've shared so many beautiful experiences with my wonderful husband, and had his solid support for those things that we could not share together.
And although these are not necessarily Cure-related, these events definitely added to the miraculous feel to the year. In August of 2008, I changed jobs to be in a much more supportive and appreciative environment. President Obama was elected in November of 2008, and later that month, I turned 40 years old. Over the week of Thanksgiving, we took our children on a family vacation and spent a week in the Florida Keys, where we were married in February of 2000 - it was the first time we had taken our children there. In April of 2009, I bought a VW Beetle, which has been my dream car for many years, and we took it on our big road trip to Vegas and Coachella.
Moving forward from now, I definitely consider the 12 months from May 2008 to May 2009 to be my Anuus Mirabilis, my most miraculous year to date. Thank you to the Cure for bringing us all together, and to everyone I've met and interacted with in the past year, thank you ALL for being the best Cure peeps on the planet!
Here are the blog posts that I've finished, there are several more to come, but it's going to be a little while until they are done, so I wanted to get this out sooner rather than later.
The Year of Miracles - 12 months - 10 shows
1. 4Tour - Red Rocks, Morrison, CO - Blog | Photos | Video
2. 4Tour - Salt Lake City, UT - Blog | Photos | Video
3. 4Tour - Sunrise, FL - Blog | Photos | Video
4. 4Tour - Madison Square Garden, NYC, NY Blog | Photos | Video
5. LA Shows - Carson Daly Show Taping, Burbank, CA - Blog | Photos | Video
6. LA Shows - Secret Show @ the Troubadour, W. Hollywood, CA - Blog 1, Blog 2 | Photos | Video
7. NME Awards - O2 Academy, Brixton, UK - Blog | Photos
8. NME Big Gig - O2 Arena, Greenwich, UK - Blog | Photos | Video
9. The Pearl Theater - Las Vegas, NV - Blog | Photos | Video
10. Coachella Festival- Indio, CA - Blog | Photos | Video
Showing posts with label tattoo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tattoo. Show all posts
Friday, June 19, 2009
Anuus Mirabilis - My year of miracles
Monday, July 28, 2008
The secret language of Cure tattoos
I'll start off by saying that this post is about my tattoo and the reasoning behind it, as well as being about the symbolism of Cure tattoos in general. As always, this is my opinion, and is not meant to be an in-depth thesis on the topic. Your mileage may vary and other disclaimers apply.
The topics are interconnected in that the reasons that people get Cure tattoos based on the album/single/other artwork are extraordinarily varied, however many people feel that the artwork of any given album is an integral part of the experience of Cure records, and may even be the reason that even now, in the digital age, fans of the Cure tend to buy the actual physical records, often in addition to downloaded MP3s.
For instance, note the recent entry of the latest Cure single, released on July 13th, Sleep When I'm Dead, which debuted on the Billboard Hot Singles sales list at #1, even above Madonna's newest song, which debuted at #4. This, despite an almost complete lack of radio play in America! How are we (or the band) supposed to reconcile this extreme disparity?
My personal theory behind this phenomenon is that it has to do not only with the lengthy success of the Cure as a band, but also has much to do with the idea that Cure fans know that when buying a physical record (CD or vinyl), they will be participating in the full experience of the music. When the Cure release an item, they normally do not skimp on the details of the packaging, with artwork, pictures and song lyrics often included. For instance, on the recent series of remasters, the double-cd set could easily have been released in a simple double-cd jewel case with front and back artwork. It would have been simpler and certainly much less expensive than to produce a full-color fold-out CD box with cover and 20-page illustrated booklet with photos. However, they did not skimp, and we are treated to a mini-history of the Cure along with each remastered album.
Pre-digital?
During the Cure's early years, given the lack of instant-on communication and lightning speed information that the internet currently offers, the artwork which came with a particular album offered a visual and visceral glimpse into the music, and the process of creating it. Given that much of the early artwork was actually done by someone completely immersed in the creation of the music itself, it is little wonder that the art seems to "channel" the emotions and mood of a particular album or single into a distinct and coherent whole. This is reinforced by the creation of fonts or lettering, specific icons and visual styles that went along with each studio album.
For many people who were first introduced to the Cure in the pre-digital era, listening to an album for the first time was a cherished ritual that included sitting in front of an actual record player (or cassette player, depending) carefully slitting the outer wrap open, and perusing the album art intently while listening, and perhaps even reading the words along (after the initial listening session) until they had been learned by heart. One might even try to make sense of the way that things in the album art were put together, or reused for different purposes on the singles. For instance, the instantly-recognizable and yet eternally ambiguous bird-fish which graced the cover of Wish only as line-art, and yet became the main symbol on the cover of High, when it was released as a 12" single. In the pre-digital era, this artwork was a form of communication between the band and its fans, many of whom read it eagerly, as if it were a set of important hieroglyphics needing to be decoded and translated.
The Tattoo
For Cure fans, the reasons for choosing a specific tattoo are as unique as each individual being inked, however, very often the choice is linked to a specific album or it's artwork in some way. For instance, on the Chain of Flowers Tattoo Gallery, there seems to be a high percentage of tattoos which reflect the Wish-era artwork, particularly the nearly-abstract rendering of the word CURE, along with the aforementioned bird-fish, which are often seen together in some way. There are also a few renderings of the eye from the Friday I'm In Love single, however they are without the surrounding heart full of clouds. Many people consider Wish to be one of the Cure's most immediately accessible albums, and the preponderance of tattoos from this album artwork may bear that theory out.
Another factor likely contributing to the high incidence of Wish-era symbolism in tattoos is the high availability of recognizable iconography from that album. Some album artwork is more difficult to distill into tattoo form, most notably, the photo of the smeared lips from front cover of Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me - however some fans use the font style from that cover to embellish their bodies with words, instead of trying to reproduce the picture. Other album covers which are relatively rare in tattoo form include the soft, out of focus photographs from the covers of Faith and Seventeen Seconds (although there are tattoos inspired by both of these albums). The severely lined face of John Button from the cover of Standing on a Beach and the frenetically-blurred hands on The Head on the Door are likely also more difficult to render in ink on skin, however some single artwork of the same era - such as Quadpus and the silhouette from Boys Don't Cry are both popular. Also, despite its chart popularity and masterpiece status, I have yet to see a tattoo of the cover of Disintegration.
There are also fans who sport inked portraits of Robert Smith, whether more straightforward or more abstract, and some who have one completely unique to them alone, and there are even a lucky few who have had Robert Smith and the other band members use their skin as a canvas. There are even some individuals who can't decide on just one Cure tattoo!
Cure tattoos can even be viewed as being a secret language between fans, with some of the lesser-known designs and fonts being known only to people who have ardently collected and enjoyed the Cure's music over the years. Having a tattoo that proclaims your love for the band unequivocally is fine, and many people do include the band's name somewhere in their design. However, I have noticed that there are many tattoos which are composed of song lyrics, or a symbol or design, and in most cases, these would be unrecognizable to more casual fans or the mainstream public as a Cure tattoo without further explanation from the wearer. A visible tattoo of a symbol or text that is recognizable mainly to other Cure fans can be a way of finding others who share a similar level of passion about the subject and love for the Cure and their music.
The choice of tattoo can even give other fans important clues regarding your interest in the Cure.
A friend of mine calls tattoos "our own personal bumper stickers", and in this respect I believe that is a very accurate assessment, particularly given the unique mood of each album. A knowledgeable fan would be able to understand more about the person simply given the content of the tattoo. A Cure tattoo provides a common ground of interest, and almost provides an instant feeling of camaraderie. For instance, if I saw someone with a Cure tattoo in a coffee shop or airport, I wouldn't hesitate to strike up a conversation. Robert once mentioned that Cure fans dressing in a certain way or wearing similar makeup was a way for Cure fans to recognize one another, and my belief is that the Cure tattoo is the modern equivalent to this, as many of the Cure's fans have aged somewhat and are no longer as apt to wear the interesting clothing or heavy makeup every day.
Symbolism
While some tattoo wearers may have chosen a specific album style or design because it resonates with some important time or theme in their lives, there may be some who have gone deeper into the underlying symbolism of some of the artwork, and chosen it based on the symbolism as well. One symbol which seems to resonate with fans as a tattoo is the cover artwork for the single version of Lovesong. The song is widely known to have been written as a wedding present from Robert to Mary, but many fans also know that the cover artwork for the single is an abstract painting done by Robert of himself and Mary, showing their faces merging. With the combination of the meaning of music, song lyrics and the painting, a tattoo of this design could symbolize a powerful belief in enduring romantic love, such as that between Robert and Mary, who are arguably, one of the most long-married couples in modern rock history. With their 20th wedding anniversary coming up in August 2008, and having been previously together for 15 years before the wedding took place, this means that they have been a couple for nearly 35 years in total. So that particular symbol can be a very meaningful tattoo as an affirmation of the wearer's belief in long-term love or their relationship with their significant other.
In my particular case, I chose two symbols which have deeper meaning to me than simply the surface meaning of being part of the album artwork. Firstly, I will talk about the heart with an eye in it from the cover of the Friday I'm In Love 12" single. Musically speaking, although I love the A-side song, the B-side of Halo is the perfect Cure love song, and I have always enjoyed it as such. The cover artwork of the heart-shaped sky with an eye in the center is very impactful and iconic, with meaning resonating throughout the design. The most important thing to me, though, is that this design neatly represents the concept of seeing the world through my heart. The ideal of treating others with love and compassion is central to the way I try to live, and the image of the heart composed of blue sky and white clouds can be seen to represent the world and the universe beyond it, encompassing "all sentient beings" as the Buddha would say.
The eye with the moon in the center also represents being able to delve into the depths of consciousness, as the moon has long been associated with the mysteries of human emotional life, as it waxes and wanes throughout each month. The moon in the center of the eye is the waning moon, which has been balanced by the inclusion of a waxing moon symbol above the main design. The full circle of The Top logo can also be used to symbolize the full moon, so that all three aspects are included in the final design.
The circular "logo" from The Top album is included for several reasons, including that just mentioned. It was the first Cure album that I ever purchased, so it served as my introduction to their music, after the single "Lovecats" (which was the first song that I ever heard). The logo resembles Egyptian hieroglyphics and circular seals of the pre-dynastic period, which is also a personal interest. The inclusion of the bird is important to me as my own spiritual path has been very associated with different types of birds as totem animal guides. The snake is an icon of sex, death, regeneration, the powers of prophecy and a symbol of the Goddess. The stars in the final version speak of my interest in astrology and astronomy as well as relating to several Cure songs which are personal favorites, particularly the yet-to-be-released song, Underneath The Stars. So from the beginning of my love affair with the Cure, up to and including my most recent experiences with the band, this tattoo encompasses 26 years of their music and artwork being woven throughout my life.
Regardless of the reason for getting it, a tattoo is a deeply personal and intimate decision, and it is obvious that the symbolism of the album artwork resonates deeply with individuals worldwide. I am of the opinion that the more meaning a tattoo has to the wearer, the more satisfied that individual will be with it on a long-term basis. Regardless of the person's motivation, it is clear to me that Cure fans are deeply passionate about the band and their music, and some of us are even willing to literally wear our hearts on our sleeves.
Update: I've had some questions about my statement that Robert painted the lovesong single cover. The single artwork credits Maya for the artwork, butI had previously read somewhere that Robert had experimented with painting and had produced the a self-portrait with Mary for the album. Although I have researched it a little, I have not been able to find a source for this idea, so I hereby retract that statement. Thanks!
The topics are interconnected in that the reasons that people get Cure tattoos based on the album/single/other artwork are extraordinarily varied, however many people feel that the artwork of any given album is an integral part of the experience of Cure records, and may even be the reason that even now, in the digital age, fans of the Cure tend to buy the actual physical records, often in addition to downloaded MP3s.
For instance, note the recent entry of the latest Cure single, released on July 13th, Sleep When I'm Dead, which debuted on the Billboard Hot Singles sales list at #1, even above Madonna's newest song, which debuted at #4. This, despite an almost complete lack of radio play in America! How are we (or the band) supposed to reconcile this extreme disparity?
My personal theory behind this phenomenon is that it has to do not only with the lengthy success of the Cure as a band, but also has much to do with the idea that Cure fans know that when buying a physical record (CD or vinyl), they will be participating in the full experience of the music. When the Cure release an item, they normally do not skimp on the details of the packaging, with artwork, pictures and song lyrics often included. For instance, on the recent series of remasters, the double-cd set could easily have been released in a simple double-cd jewel case with front and back artwork. It would have been simpler and certainly much less expensive than to produce a full-color fold-out CD box with cover and 20-page illustrated booklet with photos. However, they did not skimp, and we are treated to a mini-history of the Cure along with each remastered album.
Pre-digital?
During the Cure's early years, given the lack of instant-on communication and lightning speed information that the internet currently offers, the artwork which came with a particular album offered a visual and visceral glimpse into the music, and the process of creating it. Given that much of the early artwork was actually done by someone completely immersed in the creation of the music itself, it is little wonder that the art seems to "channel" the emotions and mood of a particular album or single into a distinct and coherent whole. This is reinforced by the creation of fonts or lettering, specific icons and visual styles that went along with each studio album.
For many people who were first introduced to the Cure in the pre-digital era, listening to an album for the first time was a cherished ritual that included sitting in front of an actual record player (or cassette player, depending) carefully slitting the outer wrap open, and perusing the album art intently while listening, and perhaps even reading the words along (after the initial listening session) until they had been learned by heart. One might even try to make sense of the way that things in the album art were put together, or reused for different purposes on the singles. For instance, the instantly-recognizable and yet eternally ambiguous bird-fish which graced the cover of Wish only as line-art, and yet became the main symbol on the cover of High, when it was released as a 12" single. In the pre-digital era, this artwork was a form of communication between the band and its fans, many of whom read it eagerly, as if it were a set of important hieroglyphics needing to be decoded and translated.
The Tattoo
For Cure fans, the reasons for choosing a specific tattoo are as unique as each individual being inked, however, very often the choice is linked to a specific album or it's artwork in some way. For instance, on the Chain of Flowers Tattoo Gallery, there seems to be a high percentage of tattoos which reflect the Wish-era artwork, particularly the nearly-abstract rendering of the word CURE, along with the aforementioned bird-fish, which are often seen together in some way. There are also a few renderings of the eye from the Friday I'm In Love single, however they are without the surrounding heart full of clouds. Many people consider Wish to be one of the Cure's most immediately accessible albums, and the preponderance of tattoos from this album artwork may bear that theory out.
Another factor likely contributing to the high incidence of Wish-era symbolism in tattoos is the high availability of recognizable iconography from that album. Some album artwork is more difficult to distill into tattoo form, most notably, the photo of the smeared lips from front cover of Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me - however some fans use the font style from that cover to embellish their bodies with words, instead of trying to reproduce the picture. Other album covers which are relatively rare in tattoo form include the soft, out of focus photographs from the covers of Faith and Seventeen Seconds (although there are tattoos inspired by both of these albums). The severely lined face of John Button from the cover of Standing on a Beach and the frenetically-blurred hands on The Head on the Door are likely also more difficult to render in ink on skin, however some single artwork of the same era - such as Quadpus and the silhouette from Boys Don't Cry are both popular. Also, despite its chart popularity and masterpiece status, I have yet to see a tattoo of the cover of Disintegration.
There are also fans who sport inked portraits of Robert Smith, whether more straightforward or more abstract, and some who have one completely unique to them alone, and there are even a lucky few who have had Robert Smith and the other band members use their skin as a canvas. There are even some individuals who can't decide on just one Cure tattoo!
Cure tattoos can even be viewed as being a secret language between fans, with some of the lesser-known designs and fonts being known only to people who have ardently collected and enjoyed the Cure's music over the years. Having a tattoo that proclaims your love for the band unequivocally is fine, and many people do include the band's name somewhere in their design. However, I have noticed that there are many tattoos which are composed of song lyrics, or a symbol or design, and in most cases, these would be unrecognizable to more casual fans or the mainstream public as a Cure tattoo without further explanation from the wearer. A visible tattoo of a symbol or text that is recognizable mainly to other Cure fans can be a way of finding others who share a similar level of passion about the subject and love for the Cure and their music.
The choice of tattoo can even give other fans important clues regarding your interest in the Cure.
A friend of mine calls tattoos "our own personal bumper stickers", and in this respect I believe that is a very accurate assessment, particularly given the unique mood of each album. A knowledgeable fan would be able to understand more about the person simply given the content of the tattoo. A Cure tattoo provides a common ground of interest, and almost provides an instant feeling of camaraderie. For instance, if I saw someone with a Cure tattoo in a coffee shop or airport, I wouldn't hesitate to strike up a conversation. Robert once mentioned that Cure fans dressing in a certain way or wearing similar makeup was a way for Cure fans to recognize one another, and my belief is that the Cure tattoo is the modern equivalent to this, as many of the Cure's fans have aged somewhat and are no longer as apt to wear the interesting clothing or heavy makeup every day.
Symbolism
While some tattoo wearers may have chosen a specific album style or design because it resonates with some important time or theme in their lives, there may be some who have gone deeper into the underlying symbolism of some of the artwork, and chosen it based on the symbolism as well. One symbol which seems to resonate with fans as a tattoo is the cover artwork for the single version of Lovesong. The song is widely known to have been written as a wedding present from Robert to Mary, but many fans also know that the cover artwork for the single is an abstract painting done by Robert of himself and Mary, showing their faces merging. With the combination of the meaning of music, song lyrics and the painting, a tattoo of this design could symbolize a powerful belief in enduring romantic love, such as that between Robert and Mary, who are arguably, one of the most long-married couples in modern rock history. With their 20th wedding anniversary coming up in August 2008, and having been previously together for 15 years before the wedding took place, this means that they have been a couple for nearly 35 years in total. So that particular symbol can be a very meaningful tattoo as an affirmation of the wearer's belief in long-term love or their relationship with their significant other.
In my particular case, I chose two symbols which have deeper meaning to me than simply the surface meaning of being part of the album artwork. Firstly, I will talk about the heart with an eye in it from the cover of the Friday I'm In Love 12" single. Musically speaking, although I love the A-side song, the B-side of Halo is the perfect Cure love song, and I have always enjoyed it as such. The cover artwork of the heart-shaped sky with an eye in the center is very impactful and iconic, with meaning resonating throughout the design. The most important thing to me, though, is that this design neatly represents the concept of seeing the world through my heart. The ideal of treating others with love and compassion is central to the way I try to live, and the image of the heart composed of blue sky and white clouds can be seen to represent the world and the universe beyond it, encompassing "all sentient beings" as the Buddha would say.
The eye with the moon in the center also represents being able to delve into the depths of consciousness, as the moon has long been associated with the mysteries of human emotional life, as it waxes and wanes throughout each month. The moon in the center of the eye is the waning moon, which has been balanced by the inclusion of a waxing moon symbol above the main design. The full circle of The Top logo can also be used to symbolize the full moon, so that all three aspects are included in the final design.
The circular "logo" from The Top album is included for several reasons, including that just mentioned. It was the first Cure album that I ever purchased, so it served as my introduction to their music, after the single "Lovecats" (which was the first song that I ever heard). The logo resembles Egyptian hieroglyphics and circular seals of the pre-dynastic period, which is also a personal interest. The inclusion of the bird is important to me as my own spiritual path has been very associated with different types of birds as totem animal guides. The snake is an icon of sex, death, regeneration, the powers of prophecy and a symbol of the Goddess. The stars in the final version speak of my interest in astrology and astronomy as well as relating to several Cure songs which are personal favorites, particularly the yet-to-be-released song, Underneath The Stars. So from the beginning of my love affair with the Cure, up to and including my most recent experiences with the band, this tattoo encompasses 26 years of their music and artwork being woven throughout my life.
Regardless of the reason for getting it, a tattoo is a deeply personal and intimate decision, and it is obvious that the symbolism of the album artwork resonates deeply with individuals worldwide. I am of the opinion that the more meaning a tattoo has to the wearer, the more satisfied that individual will be with it on a long-term basis. Regardless of the person's motivation, it is clear to me that Cure fans are deeply passionate about the band and their music, and some of us are even willing to literally wear our hearts on our sleeves.
Update: I've had some questions about my statement that Robert painted the lovesong single cover. The single artwork credits Maya for the artwork, butI had previously read somewhere that Robert had experimented with painting and had produced the a self-portrait with Mary for the album. Although I have researched it a little, I have not been able to find a source for this idea, so I hereby retract that statement. Thanks!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Meeting the Cure
I was a Cure fan before anything else in my life. They were my first love, my first religion, my first philosophy and first true joy. Through their music, I first felt that connection to something larger and more beautiful than I could ever imagine, and any time I need to feel that connection again, all I have to do is listen. It's hard to describe to non-fans how central this band and the soaring poetry of their music has been in my life, how much it's always there, always present, it always has been, and most likely, always will be. I can't imagine not being a fan, not listening to the music or not caring about what they are doing.
And now, something I never thought would happen, came true, and I got to meet these people whose hearts, minds and souls have been with me my whole life. I don't even have the words to say how important and incredible this moment was, so I'll leave you with something Robert wrote recently, and which I was lucky enough to hear in person and record at the Red Rocks show in Colorado:
Floating here, like this with you
Underneath the stars above
For 13 billion years a view
It's beautiful and ours alone tonight
Underneath The Stars
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